Hi, guys.
After reading Konflict’s list symptoms, I noticed they matched mine almost exactly. Most notably:
I feel that my body deteriorates whenever I take Vitamin D. I speculate this could be due to its aromatase inhibitor property. I always thought my problems came from low testosterone, but maybe I have an estrogen problem, too?
What can I do? Is this really it for me?
My friend, try to take your mind off your problem.
You are still alive and living. Every day is a new start.
You’re trying to analyze your situation without any proper tools.
It is not reasonable for you to speculate whether you’re low testosterone or low estrogen or high this or high that.
Try to have some calm and hope. If your test is low, you can try to supplement it with the supervision of a doctor. If your estrogen is low, you can try to balance that as well with the supervision of a doctor.
Others have tried this and have not had significant improvements. But there are also people who have tried this and improved.
Important thing is you are still still alive and breathing. You can still sleep and wake and move around. I know it feels very weird and bad that your body has changed and is behaving differently. But you can still enjoy many of the things you still used to enjoy. Try watching a show and laughing or a good movie or a good video game.
I think this is a good call.
Even completely healthy people can convince themselves of having a particular ailment when left alone with the internet and their greatest fears.
@WorriedGuy123, instead of focussing on outcomes, it might be best to take a day by day approach.
Guys. My right pinky and ring finger were numb when I woke up today. What the hell is going on!?
I had that too man
My left hand was like that after I crashed 5 months ago
It gets better
Not for me. I think I have an estrogen receptor/signaling problem, which means it’s over for me. There were some people here who have connective tissue problems combined with increased body hair, which is exactly what I’m experiencing. It explains why I get increased scalp itch and acne when my testosterone rises, because there’s not estrogen counter-acting the increased testosterone.
I’m screwed…
Have you even measured your blood hormone levels man?
You should stop speculating so much about your health.
I’ve had body hair growth long time ago after using fin. That was about 6 years ago. I’m still here.
Did your scalp also itch and hair shed a ton? I’m having connective tissue problems and bone problems.
It’s absolutely CRAZY to try to connect meaningless symptoms like itchy scalp and hair loss to things that happened to Konflict.
Over 6 years of quitting Minoxidil and Finasteride and other shampoos and supplements, I’ve had plenty of itchy scalps and hair shedding. I’ve also had & continue to have hair growth on my arms and back that I didn’t before.
As far as I know, MOST people who had catastrophic and unfortunate ends on here, often did so after trying some other supplements and medicines.
Please try to stay calm. Have you talked to anyone in your family about what you are going through? Do your parents know?
Yes, I told my closest friends, my parents and my brother.
I recently got promoted to a job paying 6-figures, and I was supposed to take care of my family. Now I won’t be able to do that if my tissues deteriorate. I can’t believe this is happening to me.
My mom is trying her best to help me through this ordeal, and I’m grateful for her.
The thing is, it’s almost impossible to avoid certain vitamins and minerals. I won’t take supplements, but do I keep my diet the same even if some of my foods have vitamin d or k2 in them?
You should also see a cognitive behavioral therapist. And also endocrinologists.
You still have to eat, my man. Your best bet is to eat clean & healthy. Some people have had better results with certain diets. There’s no pattern. Some do better with Ketogenic diet or Gluten-Free etc. Some do better with Intermittent Fasting, etc.
If you can, you can try an elimination diet to see if certain foods make you feel better or worse
Have things gotten better for you since your crash?
Yes, they have.
I’ve more been on a roller coaster.
I have weeks where my symptoms are more prevalent.
And I have weeks where I’m 60-70% what I used to be before Finasteride.
This applies to most of my symptoms; insomnia, anxiety, sexual sides, heart palpitations, muscle twitches.
Over the years, I’ve developed some new symptoms. But they haven’t really gotten worse.
Any supplements or diet you follow?
what new symptoms did you acquire?
brother, I’ve read your story.
You also used finasteride topically like I did… did you compound it yourself or did you buy a certain formula? You’ve used it for such a short period and you’re still left with persistent symptoms, thats messed up!
I’ve used it 1x 0.25mg orally and 4x @ 0.15mg - 0.25mg topically.
So I react badly to vitamin D. Do I have to live like a vampire?
I don’t follow any specific diet. Particularly because of lack of discipline.
I do however count my calories and try to eat about 2000 calories or less per day. (I’m about 15 lbs overweight).
I also try to restrict my eating time, so intermittent fasting. I usually skip breakfast and have a light lunch/heavy dinner or vice-versa. I try not to eat at night, just because I feel better generally and can sleep better on an empty stomach (as long as I’m not feeling hungry).
However, these are not things I do because I have some theory behind them. It’s just over the years, I found my body appreciates these eating habits more.
I try to generally eat healthy. Limit sugars & carbs. But often times, I will eat whatever. I haven’t really noticed a correlation between my diet and my symptoms. However, this is just anectodal.
Things I avoid are all forms of caffeine, alcohol, weed, and tobacco.
I stopped these, again, not because I have a specific theory that caffeine is bad for PFS or something. Around the time of my colitis flare-up, I noticed caffeine was giving me pretty bad anxiety and sometimes, tachycardia (racing heart). I’ve since then drank caffeine occassionaly without much harm. I’ll also drink decaf coffee every once in a while. But my body seems to have a weird reaction to the bitterness of coffee. Again, nothing scientific here. Just, over the years, trial and error seeing what my body likes & doesn’t like.
I blame alcohol for my colitis. Maybe PFS gave way for it to manifest, but when I started drinking alcohol more often, that’s when I started having worse digestion. I also seem to have worse ED, and insomnia when I drink. It was mainly the insomnia that made me stop though. When I drink alcohol, I can’t sleep good for a good couple of days.
Similar with weed. I used to smoke weed. However, it would make it really hard for me to sleep, contrary to what others usually experience. With that said, I was always susceptible to that and also anxiety attacks when smoking weed even before PFS.
I would recommend lifting weights if your body tolerates it. Some people have adverse reaction to intense workouts, but others can do it no problemo. If you’re in the latter, I would highly recommend you to go for it. If you’re in the former, then take it easy and do some mild workouts and go for walks.
The supplements I take are Magnesium. I don’t know if it was placebo, but I found it generally makes me feel a little better. I’ve also occasionally used melatonin with some success for my insomnia.
This week, I started supplementing VitD3 (witk K2) and Iron. I had labwork that showed I was deficient in both. However, I’ve given the VitD a break because my joints are popping more often than before. I’m still taking the Iron so hopefully I don’t have any adverse effects with that.
Supplements I’m considering are L-Theanine, GABA, Bacopa Monnieri, and some other things, but I’m very hesitant. Like I said it seems everyone that got worse here, got so because of trying random supplements.
However, I have not heard anyone get worse through lifestyle changes like diets and exercise.
you MIGHT HAVE had a bad reaction VitD.
You don’t know that for a fact.
You took VitD and noticed some things about your body that you think weren’t there before.
You need to be more SCIENTIFIC and SKEPTICAL on this road.
Especially when it comes to things you think your body is telling you.
Anxiety is a big part of this. Whether it’s induced by just overthinking or by the PFS itself, it is something you’re going to have to fight with & try to get it under control.
Anxiety can and will make your symptoms worse.
You need to focus & target this just like any other aspect of your health, whether it be your diet, your exercise, your doctor visits, etc.
You have to fight the urge to let your worst fears take hold of your mind.
For every one of our unfortunate friends like Konflict, there are a hundred other members on this board who did not suffer his unfortunate fate.
And for every one of us here suffering from PFS, there are thousands of people who take finasteride without any noticable problems.
Your mind will tell you that you have the WORST POSSIBLE case of PFS. That the absolute worst will manifest itself. But you have no evidence to believe this.
Trust me, man. I know this is some scary shit. I go through it as well. But you are your best friend. and YOU need to give yourself mental tools to deal with the anxiety and fear of all this. This is why I highly urge you to see a therapist. He/She will not solve your PFS, but she can help you give a better mindstate and more mental fortitude about your situation.
You think you reacted bad to VitD supplement. But that may not be the same as your body procuring VitD through the sun. This doesn’t mean you should go out tomorrow and sunbathe until you’re sunburtn or hit a tanning booth or something.
I’m just saying, if there is plausible deniability regarding an anxiety or worry or conclusion you’ve made regarding yourself and PFS, you need to give as much credence (if not 3 times more) to that as the credence you’re giving to your negative assumption as well.
You can use these feelings to guide your supplementation. But don’t let it guide your emotions and mental state.
I also noticed more joint popping after starting VitD last week, so I’m gonna give it a rest for now. But I’m not gonna try to speculate on why that’s happening and the reasons. The simple answer is NO ONE really knows. If my bone popping passes, then maybe down the line I’ll try a different formulation of VitD and see how I feel on that try.
Thank you very much, bro.
Summer of 2018, I noticed some colitis symptoms such as undigested food, diarrhea, occasional blood stool. That was also accompanied with decreased exercise tolerance. I was also having occasional chest pain, arrythmia, tachycardia, muscle twitches, and floaters. That was all accompanied by increased insomnia, and as expected, increased anxiety.
Luckily, most of those sides improved ALMOST completely. Especially tachycardia, chest pain, arrythmia which were by far the most morale crushing. Also, the eye floaters and muscle twitches subsided as well.
I still cannot workout as intensely as I could before. My digestive symptoms remain. And my anxiety & insomnia fluctuate, but they’ve become much more managable.
I didn’t notice any significant sexual sides other than occasional ED here and there.
Before my “colitis” flare up, I mainly just had occassional insomnia, mild anxiety, and the appearance of my initial sexual sides (loss of spontaneous erections, no morning wood, gynecomastia)
I don’t remember how much fin was in my topical concentration. I can probably find it if I go back through my emails, but I don’t really want to do that right now.
I used up one bottle of finasteride & minoxidil combination concocted by some pharmacy that I found through baldtruthtalk forums. They gave me the prescription over the internet. No interview, no nothing. Pretty fucked up if you ask me. But it’s in the past now.
Don’t let your mind get the better of you. A big problem here is that people think hormones have a huge effect on their emotions, so they constantly think about their emotions and convince themselves of all kinds of hormone problems. If you think your hormones are off then go to an endocrinologist and get them tested. It’s not a good place to be in to sit thinking that you took an evil drug, you can’t trust doctors and all doctors are clueless, your hormones must be messed up, and that you can’t trust your brain because of your hormones. Get your hormones tested and don’t think too much.
If there is nothing wrong with them (which is probably the case) then the problem is elsewhere and you can stop chasing your tail regarding hormones and emotions. In the meantime, see if you can find a way to get behind getting scientific research performed. It’s the only way out of this mess and you’ll go crazy sitting here ruminating about this that and the other.